Introducing students to the idea of research
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IDEA
Level 1 students are introduced to the idea of research and to what will be involved in a module based on student research projects
EXAMPLE
(Andrew Cox, Philippa Levy and Peter Stordy, Department of Information Studies)
- We used these activities during a Week 1 workshop to introduce students to the idea of research, and to the inquiry-based learning approach that they would be involved in during the rest of the module. We wanted to begin to foster a sense of student ownership of the module and to offer students an opportunity to participate in determining (to some extent) how it would run. We also wanted to get students interacting with each other and us at the outset of the module.
- We began with a scene-setting ‘what is research?’ group task intended to stimulate thinking about different meanings of, and approaches to, research. Students first took five minutes, working as individuals, to jot down their response to this question on post-its. We encouraged them to try to boil down their response to just one sentence on one post-it. Then, they compared and discussed their ideas in small groups, and were asked to reach agreement on a shared (provisional) ‘definition’. These were written on A4 sheets of paper and placed on whiteboards around the room (CILASS collaboratory in Bartolome House). Students were given a number of sticky dots to fix to those definitions that they most agreed with – assigning most dots to the one they most agreed with. This led in to a short discussion comparing the different statements and drawing out some of their features.
- The second part of this activity used visual images to continue introductory exploration of different ways of understanding and doing research in universities and society. We showed students images found via Google Images and Flickr , by using the search terms “research”, “social science research” and “researcher”. We gave them a worksheet to fill in as they explored the images themselves, using the laptops in the collaboratory. The worksheet went like this:
1. Pictures often convey a lot of subtle assumptions and beliefs about a topic. Go to Google Images and search for the word “research”. Look at some of the pictures that are returned in the search results.
2. List some keywords that might describe the images through which research is represented. You could also search in www.flickr.com.
3. Do another search for “social science research” – do you get some different types of image? Look also under “research process” or “researcher.” Make more notes of keywords.
4. Make some notes on what strikes you about how research is represented? What keywords would you associate with research?
- We finished this activity with a brief round-up of students’ observations and comments.
- We then moved on to a small-group activity designed to enable students to explore what a module based on ‘doing research’ could be like and to provide a point of departure for us to explain how this particular module will run. The activity ‘instructions’ went like this:
What would a really good inquiry-based learning module be like?
You are a group of academic staff that is beginning to plan an inquiry-based learning module for first year students in information management. The module is to be based on students carrying out research projects. The final outcome of students’ projects is to be a ‘sharable/reusable’ presentation/product for others in the class and beyond. Beyond that there is a lot of flexibility in the kinds of projects students can carry out, and in the way the module is designed, run and assessed….
This is the staff group’s first planning meeting. They follow some ‘trigger questions’ to help focus the discussion.
The staff want the module to be stimulating and enjoyable for the students – so you are encouraged to plan a module that would appeal to you as students, based on this brief.
You’ll present a poster (huddleboard) about an ‘ideal’ inquiry-based learning module, explaining what it will be like. Please nominate one student to present your ideas for module design to the other groups.
Here are some starting-points to orient your discussion:
1. What knowledge/ideas do you already have in the group about inquiry-based learning?
2. At a first pass at planning, what kind of research projects will students carry out and how? For example, will they work from given topics, or choose their own? Will they work as individuals or in groups? How much time will the student spend on the projects?
3. When and how will students communicate the results of their projects (e.g. essays, reports, podcasts, posters, powerpoint presentations?)
4. What kinds of teaching, facilitation, mentoring etc. should students have along the way, and from whom?
5. What kind of spaces and technology will be made available for students to use?
6. How will the students’ research projects be assessed?
- We explained to students that this activity wasn’t actually asking them to design the module they were attending, but that we would, where possible, aim to take into account ideas coming out of this exercise.
- Following student groups’ presentations of their ‘ideal’ modules, we discussed some of the themes and issues arising and explained how the module would run.
- We were pleased with the way all these activities went. Together, they stimulated good interaction and, we felt, set the scene for the module. We also got some very useful insights into students’ ideas and concerns about doing a research-based module, including some ideas that we will be able to feed in to the way the module runs. We were surprised by how carefully students considered a whole range of aspects of doing research within a module (e.g. whether or not it would be desirable to have students set their own research questions) and the support that would be required (e.g. regular formative feedback).
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Contact Details:
Andrew Cox, Philippa Levy and Peter Stordy, Department of Information Studies. Contact: a.m.cox@shef.ac.uk, p.levy@shef.ac.uk, peter.stordy@shef.ac.uk
